House of Unexpected Arrivals
by TYandthedancer
Summary: There's a new kid and no one knew he was coming. Who is he? Why is he there? Why am I asking these questions? I have no idea.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

It's supper time in the House of Anubis and all the students are seated at the table. Everyone in Sibuna is eating as fast as they can so they can go back up to Nina and Amber's room to discuss the next task from the tunnels. Other than that everything seems normal. Then, ding dong, the doorbell rings. Everyone looks very confused because no one was expecting anyone that evening. A very annoyed Victor reluctantly exits his office to see what's going on and answer the door.

"Who might you be?" says Victor as he opens the door to find a teenage boy standing there.

"My name is Seth, Seth Foctoro,"

"And why are you here?" says Victor, growing impatient.

"I'm supposed to be living here," Seth replies with a smirk on his face.

"Says who? I think you're at the wrong house," says Victor as he starts to shut the door.

Using his foot to stop the door and handing Victor an envelope, Seth says, "My father told me to give you this letter. It should explain everything." The smirk has now vanished, replacing it is a blank expression.

Looking confused, Victor opens the envelope, takes out the letter, and starts reading. As he reads he slowly develops an almost panicked expression on his face. After a few minutes he looks at Seth but doesn't say a word, almost as if he's in a trance. Snapping out of it, he says in a somewhat shaky voice, "Very well, please come inside. Trudy will show you to your room."

Trudy, popping up from her work when she hears her name, says, "I will? I mean, of course I will but Victor which room will he stay in?"

"I suppose he can room with Jerome and Alfie," replies Victor, thinking on his feet.

Turning to Seth, "Right this way," says Trudy.

Back at the table the students, who were all listening to the conversation that had just taken place, just sit there quietly, not knowing what to make of it. After a few minutes they go their separate ways and continue on as usual. Nina, Fabian, Amber, Alfie, and Patricia run up the stairs to Nina and Amber's room. When they get there they all sit down but no one says anything.

"What do you think that was about?" questions Alfie, breaking the awkward silence.

"I don't know," says Fabian, "But it seems kind of weird. The way Victor didn't know he was coming and had that panicked look on his face when he read the letter. It's like it was a threat or something."

"I know right," says Nina. "Forget about the task from the tunnels for now. First we need to figure out who this Seth guy really is."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Later that night, Jerome and Alfie walk into their room laughing about the prank they just pulled on Patricia. Then they see Seth unpacking his things and an awkward silence slowing starts replacing the laughter. After about three minutes of awkward agony Jerome turns around and leaves without saying a word. Alfie sees this as his chance to ask Seth a few questions.

"So where are you from?" says Alfie, not knowing how to begin his interrogation.

"I transferred from a public school about an hour's drive from here," answers Seth.

"Well do you like it here?"

"I've only been here for about five hours. It's kind of hard to tell."

"Right….so what was all the confusion about earlier?" says Alfie, deciding to just cut to the chase.

Shrugging, Seth says, "It was just a last minute decision for my dad to send me here. That's all."

"But what was in that letter. Victor's been acting really weird since he read it," says Alfie, digging deeper.

Getting very mad, Seth's expression completely changes and he says, "Look I just got here, I don't need to be bothered by whoever you are. Now can I please finish unpacking in peace?"

"Sorry man. I was just curious," Alfie says as he backs out of the room. Once he's out of Seth's sight he runs down the hall and up the stairs to talk to the rest of Sibuna. Relieved to find them all in Nina and Amber's room, he locks the door behind him and takes a seat on the floor. "So I thought I would ask the new guy some questions. You know to find out more about him," says Alfie, realizing everyone was staring at him.

"How did it go? Did you learn anything about him?" asked Nina, interested in what Alfie has to say.

"Yep, I learned something," replies Alfie. "That dude's got some serious anger issues."

"What happened?" asked Fabian.

"Well I started by asking him some general questions about himself and he seemed fine. Then I asked about the letter he gave Victor and he totally flipped out on me."

"Maybe it was something you said," says Amber.

Patricia rolls her eyes and says, "I'm almost positive it was something he said Amber."

"Just trying to help," says Amber, defending herself. "If you don't like my style then maybe I'll go talk to Seth myself.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Amber, he might still be mad," Alfie shouts toward Amber but by the time he was finished she was already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Amber gets to Seth's room she gently knocks on the door. Seth replies with an agitated tone, "Look, if you're here to ask more questions you might as well just leave." Although sensing the unwanted feeling in the air, Amber decides to continue anyway and barges into the room. "I said leave," says Seth but as he turns to face Amber he stops what he's doing and stares at her, speechless. After a few never-ending seconds he finally says, "Oh you're not the dude from before."

"Thanks…I guess. Wouldn't want to be confused with Alfie," says Amber. "That would just be awkward."

"You," says Seth as he continues to stare, "Are much prettier than any guy named Alfie."

"Ok now that was awkward," replies Amber, wondering if she should be flattered or not.

"Yeah I'm sorry. That was kind of corny," agrees Seth. "What I meant to say is you're the first good thing I've seen since I've been here."

Not knowing how to respond to that, Amber says, "Well then you haven't seen Vera's chocolate cake. It's pretty amazing."

"I don't need cake as long as I have you," says Seth with a dreamy, yet slightly creepy, look in his eyes. "I know, that was corny too but it's true."

After that, Amber doesn't want to hear anymore and she turns around and walks back up to her room. Once there she says to the other Sibunas, who were all still sitting there, "Alfie was right. That Seth guy is really weird."

"Did he yell at you too?" asks Alfie. "What did he say? If he hurt you, I'll hurt him worse."

"Calm down Alfie," says Amber. "He didn't hurt me. He didn't yell at me either."

"Well what did he do?"

"I think he's in love with me."

"What makes you think that?" asks Patricia.

"Well he told me I'm the best thing at this school and he said I'm better than Vera's cake," answers Amber.

Alfie butts in and says, "Whoa, better than cake? That's impossible." Then noticing the annoyed look on Amber's face he says, "But if anything could be better than cake it would definitely be you."

"That's not the point Alfie," complains Amber. "The point is that a creeper is in love with me."

"Well when you put it that way…" says Alfie.

Then they heard a knock at the door. "Hide me," whispers Amber. "If it's him don't let him know I'm here." With that she climbs into the wardrobe and pulls the doors closed.

Once Amber's hidden, Nina answers the door and sure enough Seth's standing out in the hall. "Is Amber here?" he asks. "I have to give her something."

"You brought me something?" says Amber as she jumps out of the wardrobe. She soon notices the very confused looks on everyone's faces and says, "What? I like presents."

"Why were you in there?" asks Seth.

"Um Amber was just looking for her new shoes. Right Amber?" explains Nina.

"Oh uh yeah. I thought I lost them but they were in there. Yay!" says Amber very unconvincingly.

"Um anyway, I made you this," he says as he puts something in the palm of Amber's hand. "I just wanted to let you know I'm yours." He hesitates for a moment, then turns and walks out the door.

"Wow," says Fabian, "You really weren't kidding when you said he was in love with you."

"So what did he give you?" asks Patricia. "It looks like a keychain or something."

"It is," replies Amber. "It says 'I heart Seth Collen Foctoro'. Such a dorky name on such a dorky keychain."

"Um can I see that Amber?" asks Alfie. She hands it to him and right away he 'accidentally' drops it.

"Look what you did Alfie! All the beads fell off!" exclaims Amber.

They all bend over to help clean up the mess. As he's picking up beads, Fabian notices something. "Stop guys. Look. It spells 'collect'," he says. He then continues to unscramble the letters in Seth's name.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaims Nina once Fabian has finished."It spells 'Son of the Collector'. Do you think that's who Seth really is?"

"I highly doubt it's a coincidence," says Fabian.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"But who is the collector?" asks Patricia.

"I think he probably collects things," replies Amber, hoping it'll help. Unfortunately it doesn't and her fellow Sibuna members glare at her, annoyed.

"Good job Amber," says Patricia sarcastically. "You've learned the meaning of 'collector'."

Fabian decides to add to the conversation. "But what does he collect?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not quite as innocent as stamps or coins," Nina says, making a good point.

"You're right," says Fabian as he turns to face Nina. "Why would he name his son after himself if it wasn't something special or important?"

"How do you know his dad's name is Seth?" asks Amber.

Sighing, Fabian explains, well tries to explain anyway considering it is Amber we're talking about here, "It's indirect. Seth's father took the phrase 'Son of the Collector' and scrambled up the letters to spell 'Seth Collen Foctoro'."

"Oh, that makes more sense."

"Supper!" calls Trudy.

The Sibunas agree to meet up at their sacred meeting spot, the Sibuna clearing, after supper. They head downstairs and sit at their usual places at the table. When Seth walks in everyone stops and stares at him. He stands there for a minute and then decides to take the empty seat next to Amber. Amber moves her chair away from Seth. Not paying attention to how far she's actually moving, she keeps going until her chair hits someone else's.

"Would you like to sit on my lap again, Amber?" asks Jerome, a grin forming on his face. "The first time was kind of flattering. This time it's just plain weird."

Amber jumps up. "Oh sorry Jerome," she stutters. "I was just, you know, feeling a bit cramped over there. A girl's got to have some elbow room."

"Is everything ok?" interrupts Seth.

"Um yeah," replies Amber. Then turning towards her friends she says, "I'm not hungry anymore. Let's go." With that she gets up and leaves, practically dragging them with her. As they open the door to leave they are met by an unfamiliar face.

"Uh who are you?" asks Patricia meanly. "And what are you doing here?"

"Patricia!" whispers Nina, elbowing her 'aggressive' friend.

The lady looks at them, seemingly innocent. "My name is Vera Devenish. I'm here to see Mr. Victor Rodenmaar."

"He's in there." Nina points to the house. All the Sibunas then make their way to the Sibuna clearing. Once there, Nina decides to break the silence that has lasted almost the whole trip. "How are we going to find out who the collector is?"

"We don't even know if he's dangerous or not," says Fabian. "Maybe we should try to figure that out first."

"I think we should just play it safe and say he's dangerous," says Amber. "I mean, you've seen the way Seth acts. He's got to have learned that from somewhere."

"We still need to be sure," says Nina. "We'll just have to do a little bit of spying."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When Sibuna arrives back at the house, they are greeted by that Vera lady. She says she's the new house mother as Trudy had to leave unexpectedly. The students are all very confused but don't question it. At least not until they find a note at the foot of the stairs. Fabian recognizes it immediately as mirror writing, having already seen it once before. They all gather in the bathroom and hold the paper up to the mirror.

_Dear Anubis students,_

_ Trudy will be staying with me for a while. That is, unless I get want I want. _

_Don't worry though; she'll be perfectly safe as long as you don't slip up._

_ Sincerely,_

_ The Collector_

The Sibunas all gasp when see the signature. The non-Sibunas, Mara, Jerome, and Eddie, on the other hand, are all very confused. "The Collector?" questions Jerome. "Who is that?"

"We're not exactly sure," says Nina, "But we have a general idea."

The students all go upstairs, away from unwelcome ears, and Fabian tells the non-Sibunas everything they know about the Collector, which, frankly, isn't very much. "So Seth's father kidnapped Trudy?" asks Mara.

"I told you guys he was a creep," says Amber. "Maybe next time you'll listen to me."

"Ok now's really not the time Amber," Patricia says, getting aggravated. "Someone's gone missing."

"She's right though," says Alfie. Patricia glares at him so he decides to change the subject. "So what do you think he wants?"

"Probably something for his collection," answers Fabian. "The only problem is we don't know what he collects."

Later that night, almost 10 o'clock to be exact, Alfie and Jerome are on their way to bed as Victor's anxiously waiting to drop his pin. The door to their room is slightly open and the lights are on. Seth must be in there already, the boys think. They're about to enter when they hear voices coming from inside. At first they think Seth, being the freak he is, is talking to himself but then they hear a different voice. A woman's voice. Curious, they stand by the door and listen.

"_Why did dad take that lady?" asks Seth. _

_ "I told you, he needs to find the Mask of Anubis. It's the only way he'll be able to complete the elixir," replies the mysterious woman. _

_ "How does he know these kids will be able to get it?"_

_ "Trust me; he knows all about them and what they are capable of. Now you really should get some sleep."_

_ "One more question," protests Seth. "Where is he keeping her?"_

_ "Most likely in one of those sheds he uses for all his hostages," answers the woman as if it's no big deal. "Good night honey."_

_ "Good night mom."_

Jerome and Alfie hear footsteps approaching the door from the inside and quickly hide around the corner. From their hiding spot they can just barely see the door to their room but when the woman exits there's no mistaking who she is.

"Vera," the boys whisper simultaneously.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The boys decide to wait until the morning to share their newfound knowledge. As soon as all of their housemates are awake, Alfie and Jerome tell them to meet them upstairs after breakfast. Everyone does as they are told and in an hour's time they are all seated in various locations around Nina and Amber's room.

"We have answers," states Alfie, "To most of our questions."

"Like?" asks Fabian, prodding Alfie, or Jerome, to explain.

Alfie hastily continues. "The Collector wants the Mask of Anubis and he wants us to get it for him. He, like Victor, wants the elixir and, therefore, immortality. That's why he took Trudy and he's keeping her at one of his abandoned sheds."

"Okay," says Nina, trying to take all that in. "Anything else?"

Alfie's about to say no, but is interrupted by Jerome. "Oh yeah, Vera is Seth's mother."

"How do you guys know all this?" asks Patricia.

Alfie looks to Jerome, signaling him to explain. "When we were going to our room last night, Vera was in there talking to Seth. We were curious so we waited by the door and listened."

This whole thing was so shocking to Mara, it took a while for her to process everything that was going on. "Wait, did you say the Collector wants an elixir and immortality."

Alfie nods. Then he and the rest of Sibuna explain the whole 'Elixir of Life' thing to the non-Sibunas, including everything about the mystery from last term and the Chosen One. The whole thing seems so absurd to Mara, but she tries to understand it anyway.

"So after all those clues Alfie and Jerome found, do you guys have any idea who the Collector really is or where these 'abandoned sheds' are?" Mara asks.

Just then a look appears on Fabian's face that shows that a light bulb just went off inside his head. "Wait a minute; we do know someone that fits that description. Think about it. Who wanted the cup last term? Who kidnaps people to get what he wants? Who keeps his hostages in abandoned sheds?"

The whole of Sibuna gasped in understanding. Even Jerome, although not technically a Sibuna, knows who Fabian's talking about. "Rufus," they all say simultaneously leading to yet another explanation for those who are still confused.

"So this has happened before?" questions Mara in disbelief. The others nod. "And you didn't think maybe it was the same person?" This makes the others feel slightly stupid but then again, Rufus was supposed to be dead.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Yes this has happened before," says Patricia. "Rufus kidnapped me last term."

"Wait, _you _were kidnapped?" asks Mara in disbelief. "And you escaped?"

Patricia nods. Then she turns to her fellow Sibunas. "Do you think he has Trudy in the same shed he kept me in?"

"Maybe," answers Nina.

"Alright," says Alfie, "Mission: Rescue Trudy is a go." The others laugh as they leave the house in search of their missing housemother.

They arrive at the abandoned shed a few minutes later. Peering through the window they see Rufus standing with his back turned to them. He looks angry, very angry. Looking past Rufus the teenagers can see a woman. She's tied to a chair with tears running down her cheeks. He seems to be yelling at her.

"That's Trudy!" exclaims Amber excitedly.

"Shhh. We have to be quiet or he'll hear us," whispers Fabian.

"How are we going to get her out of there?" asks Jerome.

"I don't know," says Mara, "But I hope we think of something soon. She looks absolutely miserable."

"Hide guys, I think he's leaving." Patricia points to the door as it begins to open. The group hides in the bushes until they see that Rufus is going the other direction. Then they quietly sneak over to the shed only to find that the door is locked. "Great, now what are we going to do?"

"Look, that window's broken," says Jerome. "Do you think any of us can fit through there?"

"Mara's the smallest," says Nina.

"Yeah," says Mara. "I think I can squeeze through there." With that she walks over to the window and within a few moments she is in the shed. "Trudy!" She runs over to the woman and begins comforting her.

"Mara," says Nina. "Can you go unlock the door so we can all come in and help?"

Mara does as she is told and the students set to work untying their housemother. "Thank you so much lovelies," says Trudy. "I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't shown up."

"It would have been bad," says Rufus as he reappears in the doorway, "But now, it'll be worse."

"You aren't going to get away with anything Rufus. We know what you're up to," says a very brave Nina.

"Oh do you?" says Rufus, a hint of mockery in his voice.

"We know that you're the Collector and that you're after the Mask of Anubis. We also know that Seth is your son and that you sent him and Vera to spy on us."

"Ah yes, you are all so clever you know? It really is a shame that I'm going to have to kill you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Oh because that worked so well last term?" said Fabian, desperately trying not to let his fear show.

"Ah but this time, I'm not alone." Rufus gestured to the door just as Vera and Seth walked in. Within seconds the scene had erupted into a full blown fight. Objects were being thrown, glass was being broken, blood was being shed, and yet neither side showed any signs of winning. That was, until Sibuna received a little unexpected help.

All of a sudden Rufus and his little henchmen started to struggle. They seemed to be growing weak. They're muscles failed and they're breathing grew slow and shallow. Soon they were nothing more than a pile of limbs in the middle of the floor. Sibuna saw this as their chance to finish untying Trudy and escape.

Once they had made it part way back to Anubis House, Jerome asked the question everyone was dying to know the answer to, "What the heck happened back there?"

They all turned to Nina who appeared to be smiling at something visible only to her, a look of extreme gratitude on her face. "Senkhara saved us," she explained. "I don't think we'll have to worry about Rufus or Vera or Seth ever again."


End file.
